Reflections
by Kirenza
Summary: Even after everything that had happened and would soon come to pass, they were brothers of the heart until the end. Yuri & Flynn friendship, game-verse. (Happens towards the end of the game, so potential for spoilers.)


Inspired by the scene towards the end of the game when Flynn teaches Yuri the Final Gale arte. I figured they'd take a break during all that training, and I've been wanting to write something with more of a brotherly dynamic between them. I'm kind of unsure about parts of this, mainly about the guilds/empire (you'll see), but I like how it turned out as a whole.

* * *

A familiar note whistled through the air as Flynn brought his sword down, steel connecting with Yuri's own blade and sending vibrations skittering through the dark-haired man's arm. Yuri pushed against the weight bearing down on him and sent Flynn reeling back a step in surprise, swiftly slashing at the blond, but his sword only met that shield once more, followed by an unforeseen swipe that knocked Yuri's sword arm aside. As he made to recover Flynn's heel met his stomach and sent him tumbling to the ground, a sword tip soon hovering before him. With a groan Yuri let his head fall back against the ground.

"I told you, you're too slow," said Flynn. "Do you want to just call it a night?"

"No." Yuri batted the blade away. "I can do it. I almost had it this time."

"Let's at least take a breather. We've been at this all day." Flynn sheathed his sword as he spoke, preventing any further protests, and helped pull Yuri to his feet. "Holding up alright?"

"Are you kidding? This is nothing," Yuri chuckled. "I mean, yeah, I'm a little worn out. But there's no way I'm giving up when I'm this close."

With a quiet laugh, Flynn took a seat on a nearby crate. "Stubborn as always, aren't we."

"You're the one who invited me out here." Not that he was complaining. Yuri sat beside him on the ground and reclined against the crate, setting his sword beside him. As he did so he let his gaze sweep over the evening sky littered with stars, more than he'd ever seen in Zaphias. As much as he loved the Lower Quarter, he had to admit that a great longing for the wilderness tugged at him, where the stars blazed like fire in the evening sky. Back home the glow of streetlamps drowned out many of them. Brave Vesperia was the first star to catch his attention, and from there his eyes roamed, recognizing one constellation after another.

"So," Flynn began. "You're all heading to Tarqaran tomorrow, aren't you?"

It took a moment for the words to register in Yuri's mind, so lost was he in the heavens. "Yeah. Tomorrow."

"Are you nervous?"

"Me? Nah." Yuri's gaze fell and focused ahead on nothing in particular. Of course he was nervous. But he certainly wouldn't be admitting it any time soon; why worry Flynn when he already had so much on his shoulders? "Don't have time to be."

"Good." He was quiet for a moment. As Yuri tilted his head back against the crate again he met Flynn's eyes, and the blond smiled, though somberly. "We've come a long way, haven't we?"

"I'll say. Especially you."

"Only because you helped me get this far. Think about it—if you hadn't been around, if you hadn't dealt with Alexei, who knows where I'd be now? There may not've even been a world to protect anymore."

Yuri waved his words aside. "We're here now, and that's what matters."

Though Flynn opened his mouth to fire off a rebuttal, no words came forth. He struggled quietly for a few moments, but in the end, kept the thought to himself and lightly nodded. "Yes, you're right."

"Speaking of which, how does it feel being commandant? It's what you've been striving for all these years, right?"

"Yes, it is. And while I _am_ happy to have finally gotten here, it... I don't know, it just feels strange." His gaze fell away.

Yuri's hands came to rest behind his head. "Well, if you've been dreaming about it for a long time, then of course it will. It just means you've gotta look towards another dream. Y'know, like reforming the empire. Or did you forget?"

"Of course not. There's no way I could forget something like that." He paused. "You know, my offer still stands for rejoining the Knights. We really could use your help."

"Not again," he groaned. "I told you, I'm not coming back. I started a guild with Karol. And besides, I'm a criminal. You guys don't need someone like me in the ranks."

"But look at everything else you've done! You've risked your life to keep Lady Estellise safe, not to mention the whole world. The good you've done far outweighs your crimes."

Yuri chuckled to himself. "Look at you. You call _me _stubborn, but you're just as bad."

"Yuri, I'm serious." His expression softened. "You always choose the harder road, the lonelier one. The road I can't follow you down. Why is that?"

"It's just part of who I am. My whole life has been like that, so why change it? We've both done fine with the way things are. I don't want to change now and risk losing everything we've worked for."

Flynn shook his head. "I don't understand how your mind works sometimes." He pressed fingertips to his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment, sitting in quiet thought. "Well, if you're going to join the guilds, we should try working together to unite them with the empire."

"Because _I'm _in the guild, or because it's the right thing to do?"

"Well..." He became quiet and studied the grass at his feet. "I _know_ it's the right thing to do. There's already been so much bloodshed and grief between them. We need to break this long-standing conflict, start changing the empire for the better. And it doesn't hurt to have someone I know and trust working within the guilds. Someone who shares my ideals."

Yuri smiled. "Good. That's the answer I was hoping for. With an attitude like that, you'll definitely go far."

"And so will you." Flynn returned his smile, every bit as brilliant as the night sky. "I'm proud of you, Yuri. You've grown so much since this whole journey began. Sure you've made mistakes along the way, and so have I. But we've learned from them and become much stronger people for it. We can only continue grow from here."

"Yeah." He stood, sword in hand, and faced Flynn. "Now how about we get back to work? We won't accomplish anything just talking all night."

"Yes, you're right." Flynn stood as well and withdrew his sword, and before long the sharp clang of metal rang out once more in the evening, both more determined than ever to prove their resolve to each other.


End file.
